Hitch-block.



N0. 67!,074. Patented Apr. 2, l90l. M. C. WHITE.

HITCH BLOCK.

(Application filed Feb. 16, 898.;

(No Model.)

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m: Mourns PETERS 00.. PNOTDLITNONVLSNINGYON, uv cv MORRIS 0. WHITE, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

HITCH-BLOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 671,074, dated April 2, 1901. Application filed February 16, 1898. Serial No. 670,554. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, MORRIS C. WHITE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful HitchBlock, of which the following is a specification.

One object of this invention is to provide a superior appliance for hitching-ropes for holding boats at landings, for hitching horses and other animals in their stalls and at hitchingposts, and for various uses where it is necessary to hitch and unhitch a rope or strap. The appliance can be adapted for use with rope or leather straps, but is especially desirable for hitching with a rope, as it enables the hitching and unhitching to be done quickly and easily and with a comparatively short piece of rope or strap.

Another object of the invention is to provide perfect security for hitching with a rope and to provide for convenient release of the same by the attendant, the means by which said security is obtained being protected from accidental release and from breakage and being practically concealed and out of the way. The rope or strap will not bind and become hard to unloose.

Another object is to provide for locking the gripping-block in its gripping position by means of a concealed and protected ratchet, so as to avoid any liability of the click being accidentally displaced from the notches of the ratchet.

Aparticular feature of my invention is that by means of it I am enabled to securely hold either a strap or a rope or a plurality of ropes withequal security and facility of attaching and releasing.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one side of my hitch-block with a fragment of rope caught in hitching position. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the opposite side of the hitchblock. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal mid-section on line indicated by 3 3, Fig. at. Fig. 4 is a section on line indicated by 4 4, Fig.

A indicates the main body, piece, or plate, one face of which is provided with projections, preferably such as the diverging walls at a, with a channel 1 between them. At the narrow end of such channel I have shown a holder for the ends of a loop of rope or strap passed around the block. Said holder comprises two rope or strap seats 2 3,and an opening 4 is provided between the channel portion of the block and the rope-seats for bringing the ends of the looped rope into the ropeseats whent he loop is in the channel.

B is a sliding block tapering to correspond to the taper of the channel and fastened to the body slidably mounted to slide axially in said channel, the parts being so proportioned that when the block is slid away from the channel the rope or strap can be looped around the block, with the members of the loop brought between the sides of the block and the side wallstt a of the channel, and the path of the block being such that it will slide far enough toward the taper end to firmly clasp the rope orstrap, as the case may be, between the block and such side walls, and the side of the block below the overhanging portion is substantially straight and parallel with the upright sides of the retaining projections ct, so that the clamp is not only adapted for holding one rope of a given diameter, but will also tightly clamp a plurality of ropes or cords of a diameter not greater than half the depth of the block. Furthermore, by reason of the straight sides of the block under the overhanging portion a strap will be clamped more perfectly with asmaller crimping of the strap than is otherwise possible. By preference the sides I) of the block overhang, as shown in Fig. 4, to prevent the rope from withdrawing from the channel 1.

Cindicatesa click to engage acatch. In the form shown the catch is formed by the ratchetnotches 5in the bottom of the channel 1. cindicates the fulcrum of the click, which slides along the smooth ways I) on the bottom of the channel at the sides of said ratchet. The point of the click Cis held in engagement with the notches by a spring D, arranged to press down on the click between the point and the fulcrum thereof. The click is carried in a chamber b of the block B and is provided with a thumb-piece c, which projects up through an opening b in the sliding block. The block covers and conceals the ratchet-notches 5, and

the thumb-piece c of the click is below the level of the gripping-block. By preference the sliding block is fastened to the main body by rivets 6, which pass through a slot 7 along the mid-line of the floor of the channel.

8 indicates a spring-clamp in the seat 3 for clamping the rope.

The rope-seat 2 is open, preferably, at an angle to the axis of the channel-plate, and the seat 3 extends, preferably, in line with or parallel with the axis of thechannel. 9 indicates a link fastened in an eye 10 at the end of the plate or body A opposite to the seats 2 and 3.

In practice the block will be suspended from the hitching-post, stanchion, or other suitable support for it by means of the link 9. When it is desired to hitch a boat, a horse, or other animal, the hitching-rope H will be carried through the notch 4 into the seat 2 and will be carried into the channel 1 and looped around the block B and carried out through the seat 3 and drawn into the spring-clamp 8. The rope H will then be pulled tight to slide the block B into the smaller portion of the channel 1, thus clamping the rope tight. The click O prevents any accidental movement of the block.

When it is desired to release the hitching rope or strap, the attendant will press down on the thumb-piece c of the click C, thus disengaging the click from the notches, and the sliding block and the loop of rope will then be moved toward the large end of the channel, thus releasing the rope and allowing it to be removed from the block.

When the rope or strap is in position and the tapering block brought down into clamping position, it firmly wedges the rope or strap and being held by the ratchet-fastening firmly retains the rope or strap in the block.

By securing the gripping-block B to the main body piece or plate A by means of two rivets U 6 the space between the two rivets is left open for cliclcchamber I)".

Now, having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is.-

1. A hitch-block comprising a body provided with a plain-faced rope or strap holding projection; a sliding block fastened to the body and having presented toward the projection a clamping-face with overhanging upper portion and a straight lower portion substantially parallel with the projection in vertical section of the block and extending along the block oblique to the path of the block, the overhanging portion extending from the block toward the strap-holding projection, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the body provided with the rope or strap holding projections and with a ratchet-face and slot in said ratchetface transverse the ratchet-catch and with a smooth face on each side of the catch; a blocl; having a click-chamber in it and fastened to the body by rivets passing through the slot; and a click in such clamber and provided with a fulcrum to rest upon said smooth faces.

3. The combination of the main body provided with two rope or strap holding projections and a catch between the projections; a hollow tapering block fastened to the body to slide axially between such projections; and a click chambered in the block to engage with the catch.

4. The combination with the hitch-block body provided with two rope or strap holding projections and with a catch and a slot between such projections, of a hollow tapering block; a click in the chamber of the block to engage the catch; and two rivets at opposite ends of the block extending through the slot to fasten the block in position.

JAMES R.-TOVVNSEND, ALFRED I. TOWNSEND. 

